Prius rant

[krugford]

If you want to be earth freindly, here's the car to drive...

2008 Tesla Roadster
0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds
13,000 rpm redline
135 mpg equivalent
220 miles per charge
less than 2 cents per mile

...and transmissions permantly locked in second gear and about about 6,000 lithium batteries just waiting for one to go up in smoke....

I don't mind the lithium battery thing myself, but people need to be educated of the dangers associated with an "event" involving lithium batteries or that "event" will easily turn fatal for more than one person involved. And I'll believe the 100,000 mile estimated life when I see it. But hey, it's a start in the right direction.

 

[281Ranger]

I've seen the lithium battery "event" first hand. We had a lithium battery pack at work explode. It wasn't old and was on the proper charger.

Honestly though, the Prius isn't a bad car. It's the people who are attracted to it. They call them hyper-milers. They try to get every fraction of a mile they can out of every gallon of gas...no matter how much they inconvience other drivers on the road.

 

[metalmacguyver]

There is a nickel mine up in Canada. Nasa used it to train for the moon landing because it is cold and barren of lift due to the toxic bi-products of the nickel mine.

 

[Danger FX4 Ranger]

and they like the smell of their own farts. i remember geo metros, and ford festiva's getting the same gas mileage, even a crx my friend had got close to 50mpg! i work a toyota dealer, and you can always tell which customer owns a prius, they have no idea there are 20 people behind them in line, and they will ask a thousand times how come they dont make mudflaps for prius'? and then make weird noises like,"huh, mmmm, hum, i wonder?," for 20 damn minutes! get the fack out!!!!

I couldn't help but think of this episode of SouthPark http://youtube.com/watch?v=CxVxzXCbeOw

 

[chico4554]

I read the tesla roadster is 100K.....if I was doing really well, I'd buy one.

if you had that much to blow on a car, you wouldnt be worrying about fuel prices.

 

[pillen140]

how about gm's hybrid silverado? it got +1 mile per gallon.

 

[lifeissomething]

The only thing that pisses me off about the prius and the honda civic hybrid is that they can get that kind of of millage out of regular gas engine, they just choose not to offer it, because they would have to offer that car with zero percent financing and priced at 15 grand. Remember the Civic HX? Four doors and near fifty miles per gallon highway... straight gas.

Also, shoeboy... there are plenty of V4s. Honda VF series motorcycles. Some honda motoGP biles are v4. Yamaha V-Max.... Aren't most large outboard boat engines two-stroke v4? Saab has some v4s. The euro ford taurus had a v4 available I think. And, they used to make diesel generators and pumps and such with v4 configuration. And for that matter, how different is a (common) flat four from a V four? It's still two banks, two heads, etc...

 

[Roadkill]

There is a nickel mine up in Canada. Nasa used it to train for the moon landing because it is cold and barren of lift due to the toxic bi-products of the nickel mine.

That was Sudbury. It was about 20 years ago. The city and surrounding area has been cleaned up so much there is new growth and wildlife coming back in droves. I've been in the old mines they had. Pretty cool stuff.

 

[pillen140]

dont drink the water!

 

[LearjetMinako]

The only thing that pisses me off about the prius and the honda civic hybrid is that they can get that kind of of millage out of regular gas engine, they just choose not to offer it, because they would have to offer that car with zero percent financing and priced at 15 grand. Remember the Civic HX? Four doors and near fifty miles per gallon highway... straight gas.

True, but the engines were around 1.0L size. Not 2.0, 2.3, 2.5, or 1.7. Plus the hybrids have the smaller engines like the 1.3 & 1.5. Theres nothing wrong with a hybrid, just the smug people that drive them. GM has a good idea with the Volt. Electric car that can use a gasoline as a generator or just drive on battery power and plug it in at night.

 

[Will]

My brother bought a new Prius. I've driven it a few times. It is sort of weird the first time. You have a key that looks like an old Atari cartridge. Pop it in and push a button and then drive. They are pretty decent. They have a good sized gas motor so they can scoot pretty well.

I wouldn't stereotype the owners. That's ignorant. But I'll tell you what happens. There's a TV screen in there that shows you where the power is coming from and going to. It has a picture with arrows that flow around. So if you let off the gas, the arrows start flowing from the wheels to the battery--it's charging. When you are just putting around town at low speeds the power is coming from the battery to the wheels. The motor only comes on when you are either accelerating hard or it's on when you are on the highway and the computer knows you will use the batery up too quickly. And it gives you your real-time mileage.

So the driver's are probably staring at the neato screen trying to keep the mileage at 60. It goes away after you get used to it. Besides, you buy a 60mpg car and you want it to get 60mpg.

They are neat cars. Ugly. But neat little machines.

And I've heard these stories about people confronted by old ladies about their gas hogs and how they bullied the old ladies.

Com'on--your Ranger is fuel effiecient compared to most of the things at the pump--Toyota Tundras, Expys, conversion vans, F250s. And I can't imagine someone coming up to anyone with that line. What woman goes up to a complete stranger man and starts giving him a ration of shit? And then you bite off a half a brick of Days Work, spit a gallon of brown goo on her shoes and with a wincing John Wayne expression go "But I can load a ton of gravel in my Ranger Mam."

And she says, "What the **** would I want with a ton of gravel?"

 

[mhughes165]

no...but i have in my old 85 f-250, 460 and c6, a women was gettin gas next to me and she INSISTED to get out and pump her own fuel in fear of the attendant scratchin her brand new prius, and she finishes filling up before me, she looks over to me and says "see if u were driving one of these u wouldnt need to much gas"......well i sat there for a moment, and retorted "if i was driving that people would assume i was gay mamm"

 

[pillen140]

they come from the factory with the rainbow sticker.

 

[Will]

Alright, that story is believable.

I don't think my brother is gay. He has six kids. He's also a cheapskate. He had a 2003 4x4 S10 crewcab and it was an economic decision to get rid of it for his commute. he drives 90 miles a day round trip to Indianapolis. He gets 49 compared to the 19 he used to get. He saves $10/day in gas. It will take 4 years for the car to pay for itself. The battery is supposed to last 7-8. I think he should have bought a $14,000 car that got 35mpg like a Mazda 3. But he wanted to play with a hybrid. One reason is he's a patent attorney and likes to have hands-on experience with things. He was an engineer at Cummins before he went to law school so he does a lot of Cummins work still. It's a valuable thing for him to know what he's talking about on such things.

Who gives a shit anyway. If it makes you feel good to drive a truck, do it. If I wanted to drive a pink Suzuki I wouldn't consider what people thought. I wear my balls in my trousers, not plastic ones swinging off the back of my lifted Ranger.

 

[Shoeboy]

Also, shoeboy... there are plenty of V4s. Honda VF series motorcycles. Some honda motoGP biles are v4. Yamaha V-Max.... Aren't most large outboard boat engines two-stroke v4? Saab has some v4s. The euro ford taurus had a v4 available I think. And, they used to make diesel generators and pumps and such with v4 configuration. And for that matter, how different is a (common) flat four from a V four? It's still two banks, two heads, etc...

Ok, sorry, I was meaning to say not many V4's, I was mostly referring to the domesticated vehicles available in North America. I know that there are a few bikes out there with the V4 configurations, and outboards with the V4 configurations, hell, even my air compressor at work is a 4 cylinder in a v4 configuration. I'm just meaning, You don't see them on the every day car.

And as for Saab, I don't classify that as a car, they should have stuck with making planes, I hate them even worse then I hate Volkswagen, I never thought I'd say that.